Despite the incessant urban sprawl, the island of Montreal still has unique natural characteristics. One of the lesser known is the 215 hectare network of wetlands north of the Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport. This natural network includes marshes, fields and woodlands, all connected together in what scientists call an ecological community. This essential parcel of biodiversity is known as the “Technoparc wetland system”, after the area it covers in the borough of Saint-Laurent and the city of Dorval.
Over the past generation, Canada and Quebec have already lost 90% of their urban wetlands. The diverse and irreplaceable ecosystem of the Technoparc is the very last of its kind on the island of Montreal. However, Sylvia Oljemark, of the non-partisan environmental group Green Coalition, says that “the Technoparc wetlands are at very high risk of being fragmented and destroyed”.
The federal government, through Transport Canada, owns three-quarters of the area, while private developers and the City of Montreal own the rest. Valérie Plante and Projet Montréal have said they want to establish a conservation area of at least 175 hectares, but their discussions with Trudeau cabinet members Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change) and Omar Alghabra (Minister of Transport ), have not yet made a significant breakthrough.
A sense of crisis has developed since ornithologist Joël Coutu drew attention to the large number of birds that come to the Technoparc ecosystem, which contributed to the founding of TechnoparcOiseaux, the group of birdwatching with 4400 members.
Urban “island biodiversity” is increasingly important due to the continued destruction of habitats in cities around the world. The latest eBird count of the species present in the Technoparc is 214 different birds. New York’s Central Park, according to the Central Park Conservancy, is home to 210 types of birds.
This striking parallel makes the Technoparc a place as important ecologically, in terms of species and biodiversity, as the most famous urban park in North America.
What scientists call the “Central Park effect” means that birds in urban environments, with shrinking habitats, are looking for areas where they can feed and breed, and it is precisely this concentration that has produced at the Technoparc.
The Government of Canada claims to want to mitigate climate change by improving urban wetlands. It owns most of Montreal’s unique Technoparc wetland system. The federal government could and should therefore act now to ensure that the 215 hectares of this precious island of biodiversity are safeguarded for Montrealers and for the whole world.
Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) leases these lands to the Ministry of Transport. This lease can be modified at any time at the discretion of the lessor, especially if it turns out that the environmental provisions have not been respected.
Canada can, should and must act now to preserve 215 hectares of this invaluable ecological zone — such a commitment would make ADM famous worldwide as an ecologically unique airport, and Canada would have kept its word.